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If you’ve ever wondered how many downloads you need to monetize a podcast, you’re not alone. Many aspiring podcasters want to know the magic number of downloads that will allow them to turn their show into a revenue-generating machine
Anyone can monetize their podcast regardless of the number of downloads they have. Lloyd, a podcaster, mentioned he had earned about $3,500 from sponsored revenue before he aired any of his episodes.
If you have a small number of downloads or you don't have any downloads at all, the time to start earning from your podcast is now. In this article, we are going to share 5 different opportunities to monetize your show, best practices to increase your podcast downloads, and the best podcast tools to help you along the way.
But first, let's get started with an important question.
Podcast monetization is all about finding ways to turn your podcasting efforts into income streams. It encompasses the processes included in generating revenue from your podcast using various means such as advertising, sponsorships, listener support, merchandise sales, premium content subscriptions, and even live events.
There’s no universal number of downloads you need to be able to monetize your podcast. Considering there are many ways to make money through your show, you can turn your podcasting efforts into a revenue stream across any downloads you currently have.
For example, Tiago, host of the podcast, Wannabe Entrepreneur stated he usually earned around $50-$60 with his podcast - when his podcast was still new and had less than 100 downloads per episode in the first 24 hours.
It is important to mention that, the more downloads you have, the more money you can earn from your show.
The specific number of downloads needed to start monetizing your podcast can also vary widely depending on the monetization methods and your podcast niche. For example, a finance podcast may start monetizing its show with a relatively smaller number of downloads than a podcast that serves true crime audiences. Although the true crime niche may have big audiences, it doesn't have the same financial backing and monetization potential as the finance niche.
But typically, advertisers look for podcasts that have 5000+ downloads in the last 30-day period. That way, they can expect a nice return on their investment. But, earning from your podcasting efforts isn't limited to just advertisers. If you have less than 5,000 downloads or even haven't started your podcast yet, there are other ways to earn.
Here are 5 of them:
There are quite a few ways to start generating income from your show but we have cut down to just 5 most popular and ideal podcast monetization methods.
One of the easiest ways to start earning with your podcast is through enrolling in ads on platforms like Spotify Ads Network with ads like mid-roll, pre-roll, or post-roll ads. This method of podcast monetization follows the same earning formula done on YouTube where a creator earns a commission from ads anytime a viewer sees the ad.
You can enroll for advertising ad revenue on major podcast streaming platforms but Spotify particularly has more than one way to earn some commissions for yourself.
Here are they:
While you can start earning on Spotify by including pre-programmed ads in your show, that doesn't automatically mean that you'll start earning instantaneously because your earnings depend on the number of listeners that check your episode.
Sponsorship is the most popular form of earning for creators not only in the podcasting landscape but in other industries like media, entertainment, etc. It means getting paid by brands, businesses, or advertisers for mentioning their products, services, or offerings on your show. This form of earning is heavily dependent on the figures that surround your show.
By figures, we mean metrics like the number of downloads, the audiences you serve, the average CTR, the ROI that sponsors may expect, and many more. The thrill of this type of earning is that, the more your podcast grows, the more you can potentially charge.
We asked Tiago, host of the Wannabe Entrepreneur Podcast, how he monetized his show when he had less than 200 downloads per episode and he mentioned “I was able to monetize my podcast by accepting some sponsorships. If you have a very specific niche, you can reach out to companies that are targeting the audiences you serve.”
If your show is fairly new, you'll need to reach out to brands/businesses that are targeting the type of listeners you've on your podcast.
Listeners' support isn't always an ideal revenue stream for new podcasters because it is heavily dependent on the number of listeners a podcaster has. However, that isn't always the case because sometimes, a podcaster with dedicated, loyal listeners can start earning from listener's donations, and earn even more than a big podcaster with general, unfocused audiences.
So, the goal here is to build your show around a definite niche and audience.
Listeners’ support allows your audiences to voluntarily support you. This revenue stream is effective and the potential earnings can go a little higher as your show grows and Captivate can help you do this.
Buy Me a Coffee also connects you directly with your audiences and can be an effective platform for accepting support from your listeners.
For this type of podcast monetization, you don't need to have 50,000 or 100,000 downloads to get started. 500+ dedicated listeners (true fans) can be enough because a podcast niche with 1000 dedicated listeners can be more appealing than a general podcast with 10000 downloads.
From our research, we found out that the most popular donation level from listeners is $5 and you can expect roughly 2% of your audience to donate. To know how much you can make with donations, calculate 2% of your audience and multiply the number by 5. For example, if your podcast has 5000 listeners, you can expect to make $500 from donations.
This is by far one of the most popular forms of earnings across every type of content creation business. It means selling other people’s products/services from your podcast and earning commissions when your listeners buy.
Additionally, this type of monetization isn’t only limited to other people’s products. If you own any product or merchandise, you can also sell through your podcast - ensuring all the profits are yours. You can become an Amazon affiliate selling products that your audiences might be interested in.
At a minimum, you can expect 1% of your listeners to buy from your affiliate link (Amazon's typical commission is between 1-10%). But your commission can go a little higher if you sign up for high-tier affiliates like Resound and Podsqueeze affiliate programs where you can earn about 25% commission of recurring payouts for every user you refer.
This is a revenue model where listeners pay recurring fees to access your exclusive content. You start by creating premium content hidden behind a paywall where your listeners will have to pay before they get access. Think about this like the Netflix of podcast.
One of the popular choices is our “Membership Subscriptions” monetization feature where you can sell fully customizable subscription memberships directly to your listeners.
Another popular choice is Supercast.
It handles the monetization part of offering premium content while you focus on growing your podcast and creating more. Also, Patreon can add more life to your premium content subscription and even sell any digital service/product.
Note: You need to make sure that you’re offering premium content to your paid subscribers. If you have no idea what to share, here are some ideas:
Podcasting has rapidly evolved from a niche hobby to a lucrative opportunity where podcasters can earn in several ways as mentioned in this guide. However, the key to maximizing these earnings lies in growing your audiences and increasing your podcast downloads. By implementing the additional tips below, you can increase your podcast downloads, attract more listeners, and in turn, enhance your monetization potential.
There are 32.5 million podcast listeners on Spotify, 28.5 million listeners on Apple podcasts, and millions on other platforms - signifying that your listeners are scattered on all these platforms. To reach them all, you need to distribute your podcast to every platform there is.
There are several ways to do this but one quick way that will bring your show up on major streaming platforms is letting your podcast host do that for you. At Captivate, you can get your episodes automatically distributed on all major streaming services like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, etc.
Additionally, you can manually request a feature of your podcast on podcast discovery platforms like Pocket Casts, Overcast, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Player FM, and many more to get recommended to their targeted listeners.
Here’s a fact, not all your listeners will be available to listen right off the bat when you release an episode - that’s why automatic download is crucial.
According to Buzzsprout statistics, getting around 30 or more podcast downloads in the first 7 days of releasing an episode will bring you to the top 50% of podcasts. If you've got about 4200 downloads, your podcast is now in the top 1%.
Now, imagine the reach, discoverability, and visibility you’ll get when your episode is in the top 50% or 1% of all podcasts. You can automatically get to the top 50% if you've more than 30 listeners who turn on their automatic download. Here's how they can enable it:
For Spotify: Open the app, go to your library, select podcasts, choose a podcast (your podcast), tap on the setting icon, and toggle on automatic download.
You can leave out 10-15 seconds in your episode to educate your listeners about this - ensuring that your episode makes it to the top 50% of podcasts every time because your audiences have their automatic download feature on.
Podcast SEO means optimizing your episode for appearing on search engines like Google, Bing, etc. For example, these are podcasts ranking for “lifestyle podcast” search intent on Google;
Searchers on Google can click those episodes, listen to them and if they love the content, they might follow/subscribe to the podcast - becoming a long-term listener.
But SEO for podcasts isn't only crucial for appearing on search engines like Google but for also ranking higher for searches on podcast listening platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castos, iHeartradio, etc.
You can increase your podcast discoverability on all these search engines by following some SEO steps like adding show notes to your episodes, using optimized descriptions, including episode summaries, having a podcast landing page, and sharing podcast blog posts.
Creating all these podcast SEO assets is not a walk in the park, to streamline these, you can use an AI tool like Podsqueeze to automate creating show notes, descriptions, summaries, landing pages, etc for your podcast.
Social media marketing for podcasts is very important because that’s where the majority of your listeners are. You can increase your reach on channels like YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X (Twitter), etc by repurposing your episodes into shareable podcast clips, audiograms, quote images, and several text-based posts geared towards funneling traffic to your main episode.
Several tools can help automate the creation of your podcast social media content, some popular choices are Podsqueeze, Wavve, Descript, Kapwing, etc.
Auto-play works the same way auto-download works. It allows your audiences to seamlessly switch between your episodes without any manual input. This is important for increasing your downloads because every listen on your episode will be counted as a download - meaning that auto-play increases your podcast download which can increase your podcast earnings.
Here's how to do it:
Open Spotify, go to settings, scroll to find the autoplay section, and then toggle on the autoplay option.
You can take a moment during your podcast to remind listeners to enable auto-play to keep the content flowing seamlessly. You can also add a brief guide in your show notes or episode descriptions on how to enable this feature.
And there you have it, answers to the burning question of how many downloads are needed to monetize your podcast, 5 popular ways to start monetizing your show (even if you're just getting started), ways to increase your podcast download, and many tools to help achieve all that.
Remember, these steps are crucial for not just increasing your podcast download but also for getting you closer to your listeners, increasing your show quality, and getting quality feedback that can be used to inform your decisions and the trajectory of your podcast.
Resound's team is building the future of podcast editing: An AI podcast editing app for creators. Here at Resound we're writing about the creative process to help content creators thrive. Picture is Ernst Chladni, the inspiration for our brand. Hear his story at resound.fm/about
